Realization
by Gabrieth
Summary: The fallen saints raise again after their Lady's desire for them to have a normal life; but now they must live with their own burdens and move on. Storyline is still on process, anything can change. After SOG
1. A fresh start

He turns around once more to say goodbye to the place he has just been awoken in; the memory of the warm embrace of his brothers in arms still lingering inside him, yet somehow far off.

They had fulfilled their purpose: died an honorable death on the battlefield to protect their dearest, their home, their master, and rose once again to fight for life and justice; even to catch a glimpse of what the world could have in store for them. Drinks, walks, love… a civilian way they've never felt they could get.

And once they thought, he thought, that was the last smile they could ever see of each other, the last time they'd feel the wind caressing their skin, drumming in their ears, that bright warm sunbeam, like a hand reaching out, pulled him out of that infinite darkness an enveloped him in a soothing voice he knew all too well…

The sunlight blinds him for a second: he resists opening his eyes just yet, his body still heavy from exhaustion and his long lavender hair falling over his shoulder in a sloppy braid. The sensations would mix and twirl inside of him: the calm winter void of nothingness, the lovely heat that tries to raise him from the bed, the heavy spring weather perfumed with a thousand new blossoms ready to bloom, even if it is just to wither a second after. And a small sweaty hand, worried, on his shoulder. He can almost feel the breath the little boy is holding.

"Kiki." He raises painfully from the bed, one hand shading his eyes from the sunlight, trying to understand his surroundings. He can see a solitary cloud slowly drifting through the sky of Star Hill, and an exhausted, almost fading Saori Kido on her knees at the center of the twelve - no, fourteen- improvised beds, all occupied with faces he knows all too well, dry blood drawing patterns on her wrists and eyes glassy with tears, but smiling. Always smiling. The gods have allowed her to bring her saints back. The boy is kneeled on his bed besides him, eyes red with grief but a heart so happy you can hear it sing within his chest, and that smile he'd give away the world for. And so he has: he knew he wouldn't come back from the battlefield, not after a Holy War. He has heard every story from the previous ones and he was ready to let his apprentice take his place; he would've been up to the challenge, of course he would. But now that place is still his and the boy is just a boy still, not a warrior destined to shed blood at his sweet age. He has the chance to enjoy his childhood, he thought, while watching him rapidly list a good number of efforts put in taking them out of Hades' hands and how happy he is it worked and he was really lonely and and and… "I missed you too".

Already risen and with a cup of tea on his hands to wake the still numb limbs, his cape over Miss Saori's shoulders, he can't shake that strange feeling again. He remembers the union at the wall, fighting side by side along with his brothers, in spite of everything that has happened before; it felt so right, so easy… but now that he's looking up to the same sky that told him once his beloved master had died, he can't stop the wrath bubbling inside of him. He knows it all, knows it wasn't the guy who watched him grow, who got himself into trouble for giving in to his whims of midnight candy and stories; it was his hand, but not himself. Yet, there is some of that rage, the fury of a boy left alone in the world, that's still clutching at his chest. He has been the first to awake again into this world, he knows he should help her with such a deed, but his strength is failing him; it was always a fight easier to fight from afar. He suddenly sees himself towering over the still body, breathing softly, of that who was his mentor, his guide. Hands still cold and a shadow in between his eyes: he knows he has forgiven, he was much too wise for him not to, but he'd swear he can see that same resentment hidden behind closed eyes. Or maybe he's trying to justify his own, maybe. His whole body is begging for him to run off, away, back home. Back where they can hurt him, embrace him and leave him alone running through the night again. He clutches that cold hand looking for composure. He finds none.

"Athen.."

"No, please", she interrupts him in a whisper but never losing her calm mannered ways: "just Saori. I'm only that at the moment. Until you need her again".

"Saori-san… I beg your pardon but I need to go back to Aries and take care of the protection of the Sanctuary."

"Please, do. And do take Kiki with you. He's been expecting you." he does need him around right now to not crumble. He needs his blissful ignorance: he knows a part of the story but he never felt the sting of it, the open wound. But then again, if the dam can't stand the violent current behind it, then...

"I would like him to come along", he was never a good liar, but panic strikes and he needs to make a move, "but I'd hate to leave you alone."

"I'm positive I'll be having some company not long from now" she said, smiling at the men all around her, tired and dirty but somehow shining bright, hopeful. Saori… she's a kid after all. One way too wise, way too tough for her years, and still with so much love to give. He can't stop himself from trusting in a heart so pure, so childlike. He vows and leaves her waiting for the rest of his knights to rise.

* * *

This is muy first fic in english, and also the first one after a while, so it's here pretty much for proofreading. Every single comment is appreciated.


	2. PiscesxAquarius

The path becomes incredibly long this time, each stone step scarred with the marks of time, of battles and poorly washed out blood; the houses do look like ruins now: barely standing tall, almost resonating with his own grieving heart. The path to Pisces still keeps that particular scent of his: of venom and recently plucked roses, although there's nothing but naked stone in sight. He can see Kiki looking for a secret garden, a hidden Eden; he puts a hand on his shoulder and with a simple gesture tells him there's no such thing. The mesmerizing aroma comes from the center of the temple, the Pisces Cloth, that doesn't resonate in sorrow but hopeful; they know, they've seen it all, they still deem them worthy. Why can't he?

"Is everything alright, master?" he has heard the story, but not about them. He doesn't know they knew, they've been aware and did nothing to stop it all. He doesn't know killing him, killing them wasn't his duty: it was plain vengeance, and seeing his master on their side was far too much for him to endure, even to Athena's command. He couldn't disobey but the rage never vanished; if anything, it only grew with the sight of his own master wearing a sapuri, commanding him to rebel.

"Everything's fine, I just…." what? Just had a peaceful death finally united as the family they always should've been and life brings him back to this eternal circle of blood and tears? Just wanted to stay finally away from it all? Just… just.. "I just have been through a bit much lately. But I'll be fine. Promise"

He takes one more step, already besides the golden box, and it seems to speak to him, to grow warm within him, to nurse him. The same way the boy does now, clutching his clothes, hugging him, face hidden. " it'll be alright, isn't it? As long as we're together everything will be fine" he smiles at him now, that radiant smile that could bring the most wicked heart to his feet, and he remembers. The first night together under the storm in Jamir: particularly fierce, particularly loud. He was, maybe, two; he could already teleport himself out of his cradle and hide when he went looking for him at bath time but storms like these sent shivers down his spine and couldn't sleep. " are the gods angry at us?" he said, trying to stop shivering under Mu's embrace: saints do not feel fear, right? He couldn't help himself from giggling to his child's question. "The gods are fine, and so we'll be. It's just a storm, and there's no storm rough enough for us not to pull through. As long as we'll together everything will be fine"

His honey daw eyes shadowed for a second: the faintest trace of concern poorly tucked behind the love in his stare. "I'm gonna be alright, we will be. As long as we're together nothing can stop us." Funny. Just phrasing that sentence puts a new crack on his dam. And the waters swift rapidly behind. They move into the next house.

* * *

As it should, Aquarius temple welcomes them with a swift change in temperature:

The house still keeps the tough attitude of its saint, warning them, cautious. Mu realizes he was pressing his kid's hand way too hard the moment he felt him wince; he remember Camus' boy, his calm demeanor and his silent crying heart. Sure, he didn't really know him and he hasn't spoken to Camus since he was a little kid; he was a tough kid even then. Between the broken greek he could mutter and his reluctance to relate to someone, anyone… anyone but Scorpio, for some reason. He was way too bright and open to allow himself to be shut out of anyone's life, always encouraging him to follow through his child games. He was hurt the first time he met him, sitting on the stone steps, not a hint of pain on his face: he was five, maybe, but he was much too strong for his age, for his own path he knew nothing about. He remembers the almost unnoticeable shrug when he sat by his side, asking what happened: his pants were stained in blood from his knee all the way down to his ankle. He said nothing. "Does it hurt?". Again, nothing. He kept on looking straight ahead, like he hadn't realize he was there. "I can tell Saga or the others if you need…". "I'm fine!" he said a bit too loud,a bit too soon: he stumbled trying to get up and sat down again, clutching his knee, his face trying to hide the teary eyes and the pout that started to form. There was no way he would let him help, so…

" then you won't mind if I touch it, do you?" he told him, smiling. Before the ginger child could take his leg away he caught his knee and a warm light appeared on his palm. He rapidly pushed back and pull up the stained leg of his trousers to see the streaks of dried blood still on his skin, but no cut whatsoever on his knee. He looked up and opened his mouth to say something but he looked like he couldn't find the proper words. He scoffed, said a quiet "merci" and walked away. Mu assumed that was a "thank you" so he just shouted back at him "kay-nang-gi-ma-ray!"[a], waved and ran off to see his friends. They haven't really talked much but he could see that cold fassade on Cygnus the minute he saw him: his master was -is- proud, he's certain of that.

Now, on the edge of the steps going down, he sees Kiki kneeled in front of the Aquarius Cloth, trying to listen it resonate and, in a way, he's glad he hasn't stayed in the Sanctuary: he didn't have to raise his child under such a hard yoke. He could have never lifted a hand to kill his boy, even if their Sanctuary was in danger. His body suddenly brings back the memories of the attacks of his own master colliding against his skin; even then, he knew he didn't mean to kill him, it wasn't a decision a Sapuri could change. The kid raises from the ground to look up as he can feel a sudden burst of energy: someone else has awoken. He wondered if they would feel just as overwhelmed as he does. He calls Kiki as he goes down, and he can feel something inside him trying to pull out: there's still a long way home, the waters must resist a bit longer in place.

*it's supposed to mean "you're welcome " in tibetan. It might also be wrong, feel free to correct me.

Updating from an Ipad is a PAIN but I have no internet at home


	3. Capricorn

Kiki runs off skipping on the steps, half levitating part of the way, and he loses track of the child's questions: he can remember clearly the three teenagers sitting on the entrance of the temple, talking subjects he didn't understand yet, Deathmask trying to embarrass him for them. He can still hear the voices protecting him from the inadequate talk, Pisces calling him "angel face", somehow not making it sound like a compliment. They were never really close to him, but Capricorn always tried to get them kids out of trouble, sneaking them out of the amazon's quarters when they were looking for a new sparring partner or some fresh stories, or convincing the Patriarch to lesser their punishments. He remembers the exact location of the loose brick on the inner wall, right behind the arch; when Shura saw him trying to take it off with his telekinesis he started to leave little treats and letters, leads to a treasure hunt all around the Sanctuary that soon would involve every kid he crossed path with, masters, amazons… Even the old master would tip his head like a puppy and pretend confusion. Or maybe he really didn't know: some items he found out of sheer perseverance, just by looking everywhere.

He used to do the same thing with Kiki when he was a toddler: leaving things enveloped in his cosmo all around Jamir, strategically placed so he could detect the next item every time he found something. It was a great way to train his senses. He suddenly caught the image of his boy smiling triumphantly, splattered in mud from head to toes, levitating since his running was still too clumsy, showing him a lump of dirt and grass bigger than both his little hands. "Smells like Mu-sama!" shouted the little one while he tried to dig up whatever he brought home this time. He dug in the rock with his fingers until he felt a curved, polished surface and remembered: he took out his master's belongings out of his chests and clutched to a particular long scarf, the one he still wears, and a golden bracelet, some words he couldn't read engraved on its surface. He remembered all the he was supposed to teach him, his story, the skills he barely mastered, the ones he didn't even heard of yet… this damned language. The whole stained, corrupted inheritance; all of his people dead and long forgotten. The last one of a long family tree, all sent out to die. They were always meant to bleed, muvians, saints; never meant to have a life. And he was bleeding: heart crying out the despair of a small child soldier, all alone in the world, the last of his kind; knuckles stomping the stones around the tower with blood and dirt, the rain mixing with his tears. He remembered having come back without the bracelet and never bothered looking for it: the world will forget about them anyways the day he dies and will only see a piece of gold and some doodles not even he could read.

Now there's him, now that there is a future, the past matters and he needed to learn everything he could about this dark forgotten continent. But first, he needed to take the kid out of the dirt and into the bathtub and that is challenge enough for the night.

"Mu-Sama!" the childish voice echoes through the empty building. "I found something!" he said, holding a levitating brick over his head. He's about to tell the boy the story of the man behind the cloth of Capricorn when he sees a yellow stained piece of paper, crushed against the hole in the wall. He uses his skill to take it out and read it.

He feels that sensation again: the rage, the tears, the dark sky… the void. The certainty of death. The closeness of death. The will to go search it. The knowledge it's not necessary. His chest suddenly weights as if it was made out of lead, an impenetrable fortress, blind, hollow. Toxic. This is not a crack on the wall, this is a tunnel he tried to covered, a utter flaw on the foundations, a pit deep enough, dark enough he falls into its domains more often than he would dare confess. He can hear him talk, but he's completely closed into himself now; he can hear the worried voice, he was never a good liar, after all. But he is the best tutor he can be: if he's gonna fall he can't allow anyone to follow. This is his own battle. He fights to snap out of it.

"What does it say, Sensei?" kiki asks, trying to sound as cheerful as he can, trying to hide the fact that he has heard the nightmares way too often for his short life, that he knows exactly where his master is right now. But then again, he never had to lie, to really lie before. He never had a really good teacher for it either.  
"Nothing really. It's just a thing we used to do when I was a kid. Took me by surprise" He didn't quite lie, after all. There are things he never really explained to the boy, and he never asked. Why were they alone all the time if they belonged to an order. Why did he only knew a couple of his brothers in arms and they never talked about the Sanctuary until he left. Why have they never had a family. He knew it pained him and he tried to avoid asking questions but his master would always tell him a story or two, no matter how heartbreaking it would be to him. The kid needed to know. Just not every detail, not all together, not quite right now. Right now they needed to get home.

The journey is getting awfully long, but at least there is one star shining through: one cosmo he could recognize. Kiki hurries up down when he senses it: their friend is back. They'll soon be all together. His chest weights no longer.

He suddenly finds himself running too.

I have no Internet at home so I'm doing what I can, but it's slow since I don't really know where I'm going with this. Any correction you'd like to do you're welcome to do it; I'm all ears. I hope this is getting somehow interesting.


	4. Sagittarius

The desolation of Sagittarius caught up to them fairly soon; even Kiki seems somehow quiet. Every surface was covered in a thick layer of dust, the marks of war hidden underneath. The whole building looks dark and sinister even when the light hits it in the exact same way as the others,if not more intensely. A faint metal sound echoes and there she is: the gold cloth, shining bright through the decay around her. The only living thing in the whole building, calling to them. He could remember the stories of the Sagittarius saints, the justice warriors, the heroes… he could remember the sweet spoken teen trying to stop the kids from doing way too much damage on their little adventures around the Sanctuary, Leo always running through him, making him bend the boundaries a bit further with a futile promise and puppy dogs eyes. We'll be good, we promise. He reaches to touch the arrow point: have we? Ever?

What part of all of this is truly innocence? What part didn't know but had fun with it, killing and imposing their will? What part knew exactly what was going on, why did he die, how? Did any of them, any insignificant part of them, figured at some point he deserved it? To be betrayed by his own brothers, cast away, exterminated like he was? Did any stopped in his track to ask why would he, of all people, would do such a thing? He who always knew best. He who always seemed to know what they were thinking. The perfect knight in shining armor, stabbed on the back by their brothers; each and everyone. Even those who didn't know, even those who ran. Even those way too young to make a difference, those who hid on a mountain away from the battlefield. Even he, who never looked back, not really. He might have missed them, but he never intended to get back until the bronze saints appear though his threshold. Could he blame his abandonment to a childish fear? He was not scared. Not scared to lose his life at least: he was ready for it since he saw the shooting star that announced his master's death. He couldn't stand watching his family rotten from the inside, losing limbs bit by bit; after all, even because of the right cause, he did get here to watch his friends die. He can feel the stiffness of his cold body, still upright, clear as it was that day; his hands imprinted with the sensation of wooden beads through his fingers. He tried to help it, he couldn't: they were supposed to die in front of him, with him, as brothers, but he was too scared to realize that until the day he heard about his lady for the first time since he left the Sanctuary: there's no escaping it, there should not be. All their sins, all of his own, vanished on the embrace at the gates of the Elysium, washed away by fighting side by side with them all, with him, he knight, Sagittarius: always happy to see his brother side by side, always forgiving. Always knows best.

Ruby red drips from the gilded tip, his hand enveloping the weapon, barely noticing it carving into his palm. If he could forgive, he who knows his brothers have murdered him, framed him, made his little brother's life miserable, why couldn't he? After the wall, after the Asgard battle, why doesn't the pain, the fury go away? He remembers the cold nights when he stood on the snowed driveway, asking for some help for the small child he could barely raise on his own; a baby a teen his age shouldn't be taking care of all alone. He remembers the darkness of the markets' closed storage rooms, the guilt, the filth and tiredness on his still too young stare, the light step of his heart turning heavy and deep, like an echo through an empty room. He haven't had it easy, but he died for of them. He could never be so pure, not remembering what it was like to prevent Kiki from ever feeling cold, hungry, alone like he has. His smile was the only thing that could keep him in his senses when everything else failed.

And it is clouded now, fixed on the bright red river through the gold. He takes his hand out in a swift move, as if the contact with the cloth suddenly burned. Silence. He was never a good liar; the boy never asked too many questions, but he can see them. So much wonder in his eyes. He knows he will eventually ask the one he cannot answer: "why?". Why did all of this happen the way it did, at all? Why did it have to? Why did it have to be them? And he'd say something about fate and stars, something he hasn't believed in in years. Something he surely won't believe then. And the kid will know and demand a straight answer. He'll have none, not really, none but one. The one that's been echoing in every heartbeat. I'm sorry. You didn't deserve, I didn't deserve this, they didn't deserve this. I'm sorry. And it won't be enough but he'll have no more to give.

Instead, he asks an easier one:

"How was he?"

"A hero."

He looks up to Star Hill and can feel cosmos moving towards them, still far off. He could really go for an embrace of his beloved friend right now; but this is his path, in a way. He haven't seen the Sanctuary empty in a long time, if not at all. He needs to do this on his own.

And they're still a long way from home.


	5. Author's note

Hey, Author here.

My apologies; I'm seriously trying to write this, but I'm currently disemployed and with a lot on my mind and can't seem to finish the chapter. So a bit of the story of what this story was meant to be a few years (yup) back.  
See, I'm a Saint Seiya fan since I was a kid, and so was I in some other fandoms. I had this whole pretty long and detailed story in my head, but I'm wary of publishing crossovers because of their... let's say, acceptance? Honestly, I love it as I've pictured it, but of course, it deals with their own original characters and a lot of back stories and I'm clearly not good to follow them all, even when I'm doing so chronologically. The whole thing, if I decide I'll actually make it as a crossover as I had planned, starts with my first fic published here, which is in spanish and needs a great deal of correcting, and at least two more parallel fics to count the rest of the characters' stories. So, the day the writer's block (let's call it that) decides to leave, I will keep on doing this journey for Aries, and probably, for every other Gold Saint as well. Then I will se if I even dare to fix the previous fic and write some others. And then, only THEN, I'll see if I put them together. I'd love to, but let's see if I'm capable.

As always, any comment or suggestion is more than welcome. Where do you think the story is going? I know where I want it to go, I'd like to know about you.

Cheers.

F.


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